Issue #48 - November/December 2013 - HAIMForest Fire
Screens
Fatcat
Dec 06, 2013
Issue #48 - November/December 2013 - HAIM
Studio gloss, softened songwriting, and the ever-dicey decision to convert to a heavy reliance on synthesizers have rendered nearly unrecognizable the Forest Fire of 2011’s Staring at the X. That album found the New York quartet inspired and spontaneous, taming noise and texture around songs sung urgently. The product of a lineup half replaced, Screens is tuneful but consistently and frustratingly lightweight. The bed of Velvets-style guitar strum (used similarly and as safely by Luna) is a fixture, joined frequently by single-note synth melodies that dial up more cheese than was likely intended. Art credentials hang on the Suicide thrum and feedback wail of “Cold Kind,” but most effective is “The Great Wall,” which succeeds because of its apparent willingness to approximate a good OMD tune. (www.forestfirenyc.com)
Author rating: 4.5/10
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